Anyone Been Tested For GROUP B STREP!!!!!!

[Hillary]

I was just wondering if anybody out there had been tested for Group B Strep!?

When I had my first baby i went into labour early so they took a routine swab and found I had group B strep, routinely hospitals don't test for this. I'v just had my second child by C Section as i had a 3 degree tear last time. I requested that i had antibiotics as you have to have them via a drip 3 hours before you have baby so it can cross placenta and protect baby, they wouldn't give me any as i was having a c section and baby wouldn't be coming out the birth canal so they said there was no risk!!!

There was my baby spent 5 weeks on life support, she was given a 5% chance of survival, her lungs collapsed and she developed Septaicemia, she showed all signs of a Group B Strep infection. We had her Baptized in hospital, she slowly recovered and is now home safe........if only I'd been given those antibiotics........

I recently spoke to somebody who also had a C Section and their baby too developed breating difficulties and who was refused antibiotics as there was seen so be no risk, she had Group B Strep - her baby died!

there seems to be aq huge variation in what is common practice depending on where you live.

Where I work if a woman tests positive she is given iv's in labour, if she delivers to quickly then the baby is given Iv's for 48 hours while they wait for results of blood tests from the baby.

In subsequent pregnancies women who have previously had gbs are again routinely given iv's in labour, or the baby has them if they deliver to quickly

There is no routine screening even in mothers who have had gbs previously.
Helen

As far as testing positive one week and then not later on, surely it's better to err on the side of caution if one has tested positive and have the antibiotics than risk the consequences of a very sick newborn.

I was tested for it with dd1 (negative) at around 36 weeks, but my OB did say the best way to test, if you want to be 100% sure, was to have a swab done when you went into labour/started induction/booked in for your section (depending). ie just before the birth, as it can and does come and go.
He also said there was still lots of debate about the value of testing, and was generally vague about it all - he tested me only by request, and it was private. I'm sorry, I don't know what the test was actually called or how it differed (if it did) from the NHS one.
The reason I requested it at the time was that I had a long history of m/c, and was really anxious about just about everything...and far too well informed via the internet about what could go wrong. I'm not saying I wouldn't take the test a second time (far more relaxed now) - in fact, I probably will - but thats why I demanded it the first time.

the private test is about 95% accurate and details of how to get it are on the GBSS website (see my link below). I think it costs around £30.